Thank you so much for your supportive comments concerning my recent set back* with the shawl.  I have been so overwhelmed with work that I haven’t been able to respond personally to all of you.  I want you to know that your advice was welcomed and well-considered.  As an update, the patient is recovering very fast and it was not as traumatic as anticipated.

Last night, as I knit on the bird, I was surrounded by more knitters than I’ve ever been except Knit Michigan. It was knit night at LYS.  Three rooms overflowed with laughter, warmth, wheels, needles, and yarn. It was powerful.  Had we been moved to do so, I think we could have solved the energy crisis and world hunger in one swift move. 

I have been fortunate enough to make my way into not just one knitting community but two.  Every Wednesday, a group meets at a local coffee shop.  The people are different but not the power.  This group could also resolve rising gas prices and famine without effort.  Recently, I have not been able to attend regularly.  I miss them. I miss them a lot.  My weeks seem less by not being there.

As I drove home last night, I thought about the sense of place one has in the world. Much has been discussed in blog land about the impact of knitters.  Much has been discussed about how that impact has been overlooked and underestimated by all those who aren’t part of the knitting community. 

Perhaps, the rest of the world is right to be confused by us, to not “get” us.  We seek each other out.  We gather in large numbers in public places. . . frequently.  Most people engaged in that activity are angry or frustrated, gathering to make themselves heard in protest of some injustice. We gather only to make ourselves known to each other.  No agenda, no mission, no higher purpose than to finish one more row, no noise except raucous laughter amongst others engaged in the the same. 

We aren’t demanding our fair share.  We are giving our fair share away without thought of compensation.  We aren’t shouting in angry and disillusioned voices.  We are laughing with passion and excitement. We aren’t building fences or defining borders.  We are charging free admission.  We aren’t out to change the world.  We are on a mission to belong to it, to know that we have a place in it. 

In an increasingly cynical and mistrusting world, it makes sense that knitters and knitting groups are dismissed.  We seem to good to be true.  They are waiting for the other shoe to drop.  Give them time.  They’ll learn - we wear hand knit socks. Shoes are optional.

*The mistake I was referring to is one of details and proportion.  I needed to insert 6 more rows between eye#2 and eye#3.  Something I did not see until I had almost completed the third row of eyes.  C’est la vie.  Such is the way of things sometimes.